The 8th Definitive Series of Stamps, The luminous beauty of South African beadwork on stamps Iziko South African National Gallery until 11 November 2012

Two years ago, the South African Post Office released a series of stamps featuring artworks executed in traditional African beadwork. The original beadwork pieces selected and the newly issued stamps can be seen in the exhibition entitled The 8th Definitive Series of Stamps: The luminous beauty of South African beadwork on Stamps at the Iziko South African National Gallery until 11 November 2012

The beaded works of art used on the stamps and other philatelic products were selected exclusively from the permanent collections of the Art and Social History Collections departments at Iziko Museums of South Africa. The 8th Definitive Stamp Series of Stamps acknowledges the beauty and aesthetic value of South African beadwork. The exhibition showcases seven stamp designs, postcards, an aerogramme, different self-adhesive stamp-booklets and an illustrated coffee-table book, as well as commemorative covers and cancellers.

The entire series was designed by the Philatelic Services of the South African Post Office. “The stamps portray culturally significant items over time in South African society,” says Johan van Wyk, head of Philately at the South African Post Office. “They range from a traditional Tsonga fertility figure, to a modern bead cellphone rendered in beadwork.” Iziko Museums of South Africa is proud of the seven-year collaboration to select, advise, research and facilitate the photography of the beadwork adornment from its collections, which is also on display.

Photographed by Sasha Lipka, the stamps focus on detail rather than the whole item. “The small stamp format lent itself best to photographs focusing on selected details of a particular item, instead of images of entire items,” says Van Wyk.

Glass beadwork dates back to the 1600s or even earlier, when tiny glass beads were imported from Europe into South Africa as a means of exchange. Their colour and luminosity made them instantly desirable to local populations, and swiftly replaced the natural materials used to decorate clothing. Glass beadwork rapidly developed into a popular art form practiced almost exclusively by women.

“In South African culture, the art of glass beadwork is as valuable as figurative carving in other African societies,” says Carol Kaufmann, curator of African Art, Iziko Museums of South Africa. “These stamps will spread awareness of these cultural treasures all over South Africa – and the rest of the world – at an affordable cost.”

All philatelic products and the coffee table book, entitled: The 8th definitive, the luminous beauty of South African beadwork on stamps are available from the South African Post Office (Grand Central, Cape Town) or online www.virtualpostoffice.co.za
International stamp collectors can order them by sending an e-mail to sa.stamps@postoffice.co.za.

ENDS

EDITOR’S NOTES

Iziko Museums of South Africa (Iziko) operates 11 national museums, the Planetarium, the Social History Centre and 3 collection specific libraries in Cape Town. The museums that make up Iziko have their own history and character, presenting extensive art, social and natural history collections which reflect our diverse African heritage. Iziko is a public entity and non-profit organisation which brings together these museums under a single governance and leadership structure. The organisation allows *free access to all individuals on commemorative days, as well as unlimited free access to individuals aged 18 and under (excluding the Castle of Good Hope and Planetarium).

COMMEMORATIVE DAYS – FREE ENTRANCE (excluding Iziko Planetarium and Castle of Good Hope)

Featured Press Releases

Johannesburg, South Africa --February 2018
4% of employees agree blocking out noise increases their productivity.(1)
Today, work happens everywhere — in busy open-plan offices and contact centers, at home, even coffee shops. This flexibility is great for business and people, but with it comes a new challenge: noise. Distraction caused by noise reduces productivity and well-being and, in contact centers, detracts from a positive customer experience.
Studies show that it takes 23 minutes to recover from distraction(3) and over 58% of employees are distracted multiple times each day.(2) That represents a significant impact on your . . .

Art by Santiago Ribeiro on display at Times Square in New York heads to Coimbra, Portugal
By FIN Staff / 5 February 2018
NEW YORK – Following the multimedia exhibition of Santiago Ribeiro’s art in Times Square, it will now head to the ‘International Surrealism Now’ exhibition in Coimbra, Portugal, having also been featured in Paris at the “Osmosis-Kiraméki Transfigured!” event along with cultural icons and renowned artists.
Portuguese surrealist painter Santiago Ribeiro has been featured since July 2017 at the Thomson Reuters and Nasdaq OMX Group at Times Square in New York City, and will remain highlighted throughout . . .

The Matt Brown Show, in association with CNBC Africa and social trading platform, Etoro, flew the wildly successful cryptocurrency trader, Luke Martin, AKA Venture Coinist, from the United States to take part in the show’s sixth live (and sold-out) cryptocurrency podcast.
The Matt Brown Show has built a listenership and captive audience in over 100 countries around the world. #CryptoJHB was the first podcast event to trend in the #1 hashtag position on Twitter in the history of South African media.
CNBC Africa broadcasted a section of The Matt Brown Show, through their programme #CryptoTrader, Hosted by Ran Neu-Ner. The Matt Brown Show . . .

GAUTENG, MIDRAND- Attracting close to three thousand athletes, and a couple thousand onlookers, the 2018 season opener of the hugely popular obstacle course racing (OCR) series, the Toyota WARRIOR Series, powered by Reebok, was off to the perfect start this past weekend at Riversands Country Farm in Johannesburg.
The OCR Toyota WARRIOR series is designed for adventure seekers from all walks of life, and, with no barrier to entry, makes obstacle course racing (OCR) accessible to anyone with a pair of trainers, t-shirt and shorts.
Course designer, Jono Hart, says Toyota WARRIOR 2018 will be the best year yet for OCR. “I build these . . .

Excitement as Global Startup Grind Chapter is established in Port Elizabeth
Startup and entrepreneurial businesses are characterised by high energy, high hopes and high expectations.
Port Elizabeth offers many advantages to these businesses - central location, institutional and private support, easy and quick accessibility within the city, a can-do mindset and friendly people willing to freely share insider knowledge and advice.
Start up businesses in Port Elizabeth have access to many different flavours of entrepreneurial support to assist them to go from Startup to global player.
What is lacking however is a forum in which these . . .